Over-excited fans end Morrissey performance in New York

Adoring fans stormed the stage during the final song of Morrissey’s show at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City last night (October 26), showering the singer with gifts.

The show was the fourth of a five-night residency at the 5000 capacity venue, which saw the former Smiths star play four new tracks – ‘All You Need Is Me’, ‘That’s How People Get What They Want’, ‘One Day Goodbye Will be Farewell’, and ‘Throw Your Arms Around Paris’.

Fans travelled from all over the world for the show, and last night an audience member yelled they’d come from Doncaster, to which Morrissey joked: ‘You were here anyway, weren’t you? It was raining outside and you thought ‘What the hell, I’ll see what the old fool’s doing!’

“I have poetic license to change the words, grunt, stay at home, forget the words, go to an ice-hockey match, I can do anything,” Morrissey said, before launching into new song ‘Throw Your Arms Around Paris’.

Typically flamboyant throughout, he adopted a genuflecting-style pose during ‘Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want’ and later on lay upside down against a monitor and made a cycling motion with his legs.

His backing band were Robert Palmer-style in their uniformity, sporting identical short haircuts, pink shirts, blue jeans and black shoes.

In front of a giant backdrop bearing a picture of Frank Sinatra, Morrissey paid tribute to the historical New York venue saying: “Below this stage are vaults. And buried there are Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone, Johnny Thunders, Klaus Nomi, Nico…all our musical loves”.

The singer also made reference to American politics when he changed the lyrics of ‘Irish Blood, English Heart’ from “Labour and Tories” to “Republicans”, prompting an enormous cheer from the crowd.

Before leaving the stage, he removed his sweat-soaked navy shirt and threw it into the crowd.